Untitled for now
by dramaqueen214
Summary: Joey, Pacey and the gang return to Capeside for yet another wedding. But coming back has Joey wondering about what could have been if she had made a different choice, and causes her to question the life she leads and the person she has become.
1. Chapter One

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Dawson's story, so we'll see how it goes! Enjoy and review so I know what you think!

Untitled

Chapter One

"Pacey Witter, I'm telling you one more time: hang up the phone and get your ass down here!" Joey Potter screamed from the first floor of her Greenwich Village apartment. "We're going to miss our flight!" She tapped her foot impatiently, as Pacey hurried down the spiral staircase and into the front hallway.

"Would you relax Jo?" He pleaded, grabbing the two suitcases waiting by the door. "We're right on time, ok, we won't miss the flight."

"I just don't understand why you've been on the phone all morning." Joey remarked, annoyed, as they headed outside to hail a cab. "We're only going to be gone for three days. I think that Devon is perfectly capable of running the restaurant without you calling him every second to check up."

"My darling Joey, you are an extremely intelligent woman," Pacey started, as he opened the cab door for her, "but you haven't the slightest idea of what it takes to run a restaurant. It's a very complicated process. There's the food of course, but a good restaurant depends on so much more than the menu. There's atmosphere and..."

Joey rolled her eyes as Pacey's diatribe was interrupted by the shrill ring of his cell phone.

"Devon? Talk to me." He greeted. "No, no, no! That's all wrong, you can't..."

The conversation ended abruptly as Joey snatched the phone and snapped it shut. "I am going to keep this." She explained, putting Pacey's lifeline into her Coach purse. "You are going to go the next three days without calling Devon, or anyone in New York for that matter."

"But Jo, I've gotta..." he protested.

"Not buts." She replied sternly. "We're both going to forget about work and enjoy your brother's wedding. Deal?"

"Deal." Pacey agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "But if my restaurant ends up closing because something goes horribly wrong, I hope you're prepared to face the consequences."

"And what would those be?" Joey inquired, her eyebrow raised.

"Well, you'll obviously become the breadwinner, and you'll have to support me for the rest of our lives together." Pacey replied, smugly.

"Oh, like it'd be the first time." Joey retorted, referring to their first year together in New York, before Pacey became a success story. Again.

"Ha ha ha, very funny." Pacey replied. "I just hope you can sleep at night."

"Actually, I can't." Joey remarked. "You see there's always this big hairy thing in my bed. It snores, and..."

Pacey's face broke into a smile, and he and Joey started laughing. It was good to see her mood improve, especially after all that they had been through in the past few months. "Some things never change, huh Potter?" he smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him.

"I think this is going to be a good trip, Pace." She sighed. "We haven't been home in so long."

Pacey gave a slight chuckle.

"What?" Joey asked defensively pulling back and looking up at him.

"Nothing." Pacey replied. "It's just that I haven't heard you refer to Capeside as home since, well, ever."

"I guess I've just been thinking about it since....well, lately. Joey remarked. "I dunno, I just miss it sometimes. Bessie's there, and Jack, and..."

"Dawson." Pacey finished her thought. "I know. I'm looking forward to seeing our big time director friend too."

"It'll be nice to see everyone." Joey remarked, closing the topic. She found her spot back in Pacey's arm and leaned her head on his chest as they drove away from New York.

What did you think? Please review!


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: OK, so far, so good. I've gotten some positive reviews, so I'll keep going! And to answer a question: Will it be a DJ? You'll have to read and find out! Also, if you can think of a title for me, I would be soooo happy! Maybe you'll even show up somewhere in the story ï! Let me know by reviewing! Enjoy and review.

Untitled

Chapter Two

Joey's stomach lept as soon as the Potter B&B came into view from the cab. It looked exactly as it had the last time she had left it. Joey used to hate that fact, but now she found it endearing. The summer flowers were blooming in Bessie's garden, and the creek was shimmering in the afternoon sunshine. Joey closed her eyes and imagined herself and Dawson during the summer months, playing outside for hours. She opened her eyes to find that exact scene, except for the two kids. Now it was Alexander and Lily, who had spotted the approaching cab and were running to meet it. Joey opened the door and was immediately attacked by the petite little girl with curly strawberry blonde hair and round blue eyes.

"Joey!" Lily exclaimed, excitedly.

"Oh my goodness Lily!" Joey remarked, giving her a huge hug. "You've gotten so big! You look so grown up!"

Lily beamed as she pulled away.

"Hello Miss Lily." Pacey greeted as rounded the car. "Let me take a look at you." He took her hand and twirled her around. "My, my, my. So you must be what...at least 25." He joked.

"No!" Lily laughed. "I'm nine!"

"Oh, well in that case, you aren't told old for this!" Pacey exclaimed, as he picked up the little girl and spun her around, laughing.

"And what about you?" Joey asked, turning to her nephew. "Too cool to say hi to your old aunt?"

"He's too cool for everything now." Lily remarked, having emerged on Pacey's shoulders. "He's twelve." She added, offering an explanation.

"I'm not too cool." He protested, hugging Joey. "And I'm glad to see you both."

"Good! Then you'll be glad to bring their bags inside!" came a voice from the front door.

"Bessie!" Joey exclaimed, running up to hug her.

"Hey there little sis!" Bessie greeted. "How was your trip?"

"It was good." Joey replied, as Alexander approached with the bags, and Pacey with Lily. "I'm glad to be home." Bessie and Pacey exchanged looks at this statement. Pacey just shrugged, and followed the group inside.

An hour later the couple had settled into Joey's old room, and were sitting down, drinking coffee in the family as Bessie rambled on about everything that had happened since the last time they had been back.

Joey looked longingly out the window, pretending to listen.

"And so Gale said 'I don't care how famous he gets, we will not let the mayor put up a sign that says Capeside: Home of Dawson Leery'!" Bessie remarked with a laugh.

"I'd have to agree with Mrs. L on that one." Pacey replied. "Don't want that already abnormally sized noggin of his getting any bigger. Right Jo?" he looked towards her. "Jo?"

"Hmm?" she snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, yeah." She laughed.

"Well, I don't know about you Jo, but I need a little nap before dinner tonight." Pacey declared, getting up. "I'm gonna need a lot of energy to deal with my family and all of our friends in the same room."

Joey smiled. "I'm not really tired. I think I'll just stay here and catch up some more with Bessie."

"Okay." Pacey replied, kissing her on the forehead, and continuing onto the room.

"Go ahead." Bessie told Joey, once Pacey was out of earshot.

"Go where?" Joey asked, puzzled.

"I'm not blind you know." Bessie remarked. "I saw you staring out the window the whole time. Go see him."

"Who? Dawson?" Joey tried to brush it off. "I'll see him at dinner tonight."

"Joey..."

"Alright, alright, so maybe I was thinking of him a little bit." Joey admitted.

"And there's nothing wrong with that!" Bessie told her.

"I know, but I always feel weird mentioning him around Pacey." Joey hesitated.

"Joey, Pacey loves you. And he knows you well. He knows that Dawson is a huge part of your life and always will be. And if he had a problem with it, well, then you wouldn't be together." Bessie remarked. "He understands that your relationship is special, and I don't think he wants to get in the way of it. Okay? So go. Go see him."

Joey half-smiled at Bessie, and got up to leave. She turned around before reaching the door. "Thanks Bess." She said, as she left.

Joey made her way to the Leery's backyard and paused for a moment, looking up at the window. The very window she had climbed in a million times, to the room that she had spent a good deal of her childhood in. The latter was still there, pressed up against the side of the house, waiting for her. She thought for a moment, and then decided to climb up, for old times' sake.

She made her way up, not quite as quickly as she once could, and lifted the window.

"No way!" Dawson yelled into his cell phone, as he paced around his room. "Tell him that I said....sorry, I'm gonna have to call you back." He remarked, shutting the phone, and looking at the figure hoisting herself through his bedroom window.

"Ouch." She exclaimed, standing up. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Joey!" Dawson exclaimed, running over and lifting her up! "It's so good to see you!"

Joey hugged him tightly, and then took a step back. She looked at him intently. He looked older, more tired than before. But he was trying to mask it. His smile was big and bright, and his eyes sparkled at her. "Dawson..." was all she could manage to say. She looked longingly into his eyes and before she could do anything to stop them, tears began streaming down her face.

TBC! Review!


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! Still no title, so keep the suggestions coming! Review please!

Untitled

Chapter Three

"Jo?" Dawson asked, his voice full of concern as he took her in his arms. "Jo, what is it? What's wrong?"

Joey stayed in the embrace for a moment, crying on Dawson's shoulder. Then realizing the terrible cliché she had created, she stepped back, shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"Is everything alright in New York?" Dawson probed, determined to figure out what was bothering her. "Is it Pacey?"

Joey wiped her eyes and blinked away a few tears. She looked up and forced a smile. "No, its fine." She told him. "New York is great, Pacey's great. Everything is going really well." She looked into his eyes, and knew instantly that he didn't believe a word she had said.

"Joey Potter, I know you way too well to play this game." Dawson remarked, sitting her down on the edge of his bed. "Now clearly, something is up. So, we're going to stay right here until you tell me exactly what is going on."

Joey sighed in defeat. "Dawson..." she started. "I....I tried to call you so many times. I just didn't even know where to start. We're both so busy, and...."

"Joey," Dawson interjected, "you know that you can call me anytime, day or night, and I will drop whatever I'm doing. I'm never too busy for you."

Joey smiled, genuinely this time. "I know. But we've always been able to pick right back up where we left off, even if we haven't talked in a while, and this just didn't seem like a great conversation for the telephone."

Dawson's faced screwed up with worry. "What exactly?"

Joey took a deep breath and let it out. "It's been a rough few months Dawson." She began, getting to the reason for her apparent unhappiness. "It all started in March. I hadn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks, so I went to the doctor and they ran a few tests."

At this, Dawson's look of worry went to one of sheer panic.

Joey continued before he could say anything. "One of the tests was a pregnancy test, and it came back positive. My "illness" turned out to be nothing more than morning sickness and all the other lovely aches and pains that accompany having a baby."

Dawson's look softened a bit.

"At first, I was scared out of my mind." Joey went on. "I know that plenty of 27 year olds have babies, but I just kept thinking about all the things I said I wanted to do before I settled down. Pacey and I weren't ready to get married yet – he had the restaurant taking up a lot of his time, and I was perfectly happy with working for a few more years and building my career. I had so many things I still needed to do for myself before I could devote my life to a child. I just wasn't ready yet."

Dawson nodded in understanding.

"But when I told Pacey, he was thrilled beyond belief." Joey continued. "You should have seen him Dawson, he was just so excited. His face lit up when he found out he was going to be a dad. He started talking about all these plans he had, and even though it was a bit of surprise, we were going to make it work, and everything would be perfect, that this baby would make us so happy. And all of my reservations just melted away. I got just as excited as he was." She looked down at her feet with a wistful smile. "We started thinking about names, looking at nursery furniture; Pacey even started talking to my belly before we went to bed each night."

Dawson laughed at that.

"So, about a month ago, we went for my three month checkup. Everything was going fine, and we had decided that we were going to tell everyone once I had gotten through the first trimester." Joey explained. "I had a pain in my stomach that morning, but I figured it was just a cramp, or something I had eaten." Her voice started to waver a little, but she gathered herself, and kept going. "We got to the office, and the nurse did an ultrasound, and she had this worried look on her face. She left to go get the doctor, and Pacey and I looked at the screen, and realized that the baby wasn't moving around. The doctor came in, and moved the wand around to try to find the heartbeat..." Tears were running down her face by now, and even Dawson's eyes were getting misty. "But he couldn't...the baby was...it wasn't...I miscarried." She finally managed to say.

"Joey...." Dawson remarked, mournfully.

"We haven't told anyone. Not even Bessie." Joey told him quickly. "I....I don't want anyone to know. But I had to tell you, I just..."

"I know." Dawson nodded. "I'm glad you did. I don't want you to keep it all pent up."

Joey nodded. Then she went back to crying. Dawson put his arm around her, and she let her head fall into his chest.

"Joey, I'm so sorry." He cooed, stroking her hair. "How's Pacey doing?"

"You know him, he's playing the part of the stereotypical strong male." Joey replied. "But I've heard him cry late at night, when he thinks I'm sleeping. I wish he would just talk about it and cry in front of me. Instead he's throwing himself into his work. He's at the restaurant more than ever."

Dawson sighed. "Pacey's not one to share his emotions."

"I know." Joey agreed.

"But you'll get through it." He assured her. "Everything is going to be alright again."

Joey sobbed at this.

"What?" asked Dawson, startled.

"That's the thing." Joey cried. "It's not. I'm so scared, Dawson. What if it happened for a reason, what if Pacey and I aren't meant to be together? What if I made the wrong choice? I can't stop thinking about these things."

"Joey, you and Pacey..."

"This has really forced me to look at my life." Joey continued. "All I ever wanted to do was escape from Capeside, and I did, and now look what's happened. I'm just so confused. Maybe I wasn't supposed to leave. Maybe I'm destined to stay here, and live a different life. I feel like it was a sign that something needs to change; that I'm in the wrong place with the wrong person."

Dawson felt a slight shock at this. "Joey, tragedy always makes you think of the what ifs. Look at what I went through with my Dad. But you've gotta pull through, and have faith that you've made the right decisions. You'll get back to your old routine, and you'll move on."

"I'm not so sure that I want to." Joey replied. She glanced at the clock next to Dawson's bed. They had to meet for dinner in an hour. "Look, we have to get ready for dinner. I'm gonna be fine, ok? Promise you won't worry."

Dawson gave her a blank look. "We'll continue this later."

"Okay, but lets put on a good face for the next few days." Joey suggested. "It's Doug and Jack's time, and I want it to be perfect for them."

"Fine." Dawson agreed.

Joey went for the window and started to climb out.

"Hey Jo?" Dawson called from across the room.

She looked back at him.

"You know I love you." Dawson remarked. Joey nodded. "I'm going to do everything I can to help you get through this, alright?"

"Thank you Dawson." Joey replied, starting on her descent. "I love you too." She whispered as she climbed down. "I just wish I knew how."

TBC! Review!


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